Endless cable mail carrier



Aug. 5, 1947. J. H. BERNAU ENDLESS CABLE MAIL CARRIER Filed Aug. 22, 1945 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 Jofik 19f fi ernau.

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A 1947- I J. H. BERNAU 2,425,141.

ENDLESS CABLE MAIL] CARRIER Filed Aug. 22 1945 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 Inventor x/l? Ber/7a a Q Patented Aug. 5, 1947 UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE ENDLESS CABLE MAIL CARRIER John H. Bernau, Ogden, Iowa Application August 22, 1945, Serial No. 612,005

1 Claim. 1

The present invention relates to new and useful improvements in devices for carrying mail or packages back and forth between a house and a rural route highway where the house is located a distance from the highway, and has for its object to provide a device of this character which embodies novel features of construction whereby the mail can be safely and expeditiously carried between the house and highway whereby to eliminate the necessity of a person from making frequent trips from the house to the highway for the purpose of receiving and sending mail.

An important object of the present invention is to provide a novel track construction for supporting mail boxes for travel thereon, together with an endless cable for moving the mail boxes along the track.

A still further object is to provide a device of this character of simple and practical construction, which is eflicient and reliable in operation, relatively inexpensive to manufacture and install in operative position and which otherwise is well adapted for the purpose for which the same is intended.

Other objects and adVantages reside in the details of construction and operation as more fully hereinafter described and claimed, reference being had to the accompanying drawings forming part hereof, wherein like reference numerals refer to like parts throughout, and in which:

Figure 1 is a top plan view,

Figure 2 is an enlarged side elevational view of one end of the track,

Figure 3 is an end elevational view with the gear box broken away and shown in section,

Figure 4 is an enlarged side elevational view of the end of the track positioned adjacent the highway,

Figure 5 is a top plan view thereof,

Figure 6 is a transverse sectional View of the track and showing the brackets for supporting the intermediate section of the track, and

Figure 7 is a top plan view thereof.

Referring now to the drawings in detail, wherein, for the purpose of illustration, I have disclosed a preferred embodiment of the invention, the numeral 5 designates a cable forming an endless track, the track being connected at its inner end as by welding 6 to an inner arcuate rigid track section 6 and also similarly connected at its outer end as at I" to an outer arcuate rigid track section I, the inner rigid track section 6 being supported on a bracket 8 attached to a farm house, while the outer rigid track section I is attached to a post 9 adjacent a rural route highway by means of a bracket Ill.

The intermediate portions of the track 5 are supported at the opposite sides of posts II by means of outwardly projecting brackets I2.

A pair of mail boxes I3 are provided with upstanding arms l4 having grooved rollers or pulleys wardly of the track 5 and cable I6 and around the pulleys II and Ill.

The inner pulley II is secured to the upper end of a vertical shaft 20 which extends downwardly into a gear box 2| and is connected to the shaft 22 of an electric motor 23 by means of gearing 24 positioned in the gear housing.

The outer pulley I8 is journale'd on the upper end of a shaft 25 supported on top of a post 26 positioned outwardly of the outer post 9, as shown to advantage of Figure 4 of the drawings.

The pair of mail boxes I 3 are arranged on the endless cables I 6 so that when one of the mail boxes is positioned at the inner end of the track adjacent the house, the other of said mail boxes will be positioned at the outermost portion of the track for access by a mail carrier for delivering mail into the outermost mail box.

The electric motor 23 is controlled by a switch 21 attached to a suitable supporting structure adjacent the house whereby the shaft 20 will be rotated to cause a movement of the cable l6 around the pulleys II and [8 for moving the mail boxes along the track 5.

Having thus described the invention, what I claim as new is:

An article-handling apparatus comprising an endless track, including a pair of side cables, a rigid, semi-circular track section at each end of the track and to which the ends of the cables are connected to form a continuation of the track, brackets supporting said rigid track sections to supporting structures, pulleys journaled beneath the rigid track sections of the same radius as said sections and axially aligned vertically therewith, an endless drive cable trained on the pulleys to form sides vertically aligned with said side cables, a carriage connected to the drive cable and including means adapted to travel on the track, and means for driving one of said pulleys.

JOHN H. BERNAU.

REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record in the file of this patent:

UNITED STATES PATENTS Number 

